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Sunday, May 25, 2014

Sepia Saturday: Mary Leed the MLC scholar

The theme photo for Sepia Saturday this week is of girls in a school dorm. I've decided to write about my husband's grandmother who was at boarding school In Melbourne, Victoria.

In the early 1900s David and Mary Ann Leed lived near Pyramid Hill in central Victoria where they had a farm. There were five sons (including two from David's previous marriage) and two daughters, Nell and Mary.

Nell Leed (left) and Mary Leed

Nell and Mary attended local rural schools like everyone else in the district but when they were late teenagers it was decided that they should go down to the prestigious Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) in Kew for a year (more-or-less as a 'finishing' experience). Mary had singing lessons while she was there - she had a fine voice.

Mary already had a 'boyfriend', a dairy farmer from Mologa, not far from home. Throughout her time in Melbourne they corresponded regularly and we are lucky to have a few of Ralph's letters to Mary. He was an amusing correspondent and filled Mary in on what was happening in the family, church activities and sport in the district and gossiped about the people they knew.

[Extract 1] Talking of looks. Do you know that I got the prize for best
looking gent. on the ground on Monday.
Needless to say my conceit has risen almost to bursting point.
Scobie reckoned the judging was crook.
Some of the old married women were judges, so that accounts for me
winning, I’m pretty well in with one or two of them. It’s more than I can say of the young girls.

[Extract 2] I had plenty of spare time to think things
over. I’ve come to the conclusion that
Mologa isn’t much of a place, especially of a Sunday now that your not
here. Eight o’clock, Sunday night,
nothing to do, nowhere to go, its too rough.
Once you come home again I’ll never let you go away any more (as if I
could stop you). I’m selfish aren’t
I. But truly its ever so lonesome up
here now & I can’t help longing for the time when I can see you again. November seems a long way off. Think of me while you are enjoying yourself
at the show tomorrow.

[Extract 3] It is with deep sorrow in my heart
that I record the demise of Clara. Yesterday she stole our meat that was to do
us for dinner.She was arrested, tried
& sentenced to death.But in our
tenderness of heart, she was granted a reprieve.However, last night she entered the house
with felonious intent & knocked a pack of plates off the shelf breaking
three.Today, the reprieve was annulled
& at half past fourthe sentence was
carried out.Clara (in a bag) went to
her last long home accompanied by two half bricks. (RIP). With
this touching episode, I draw to a close, So
long sweetheart. From
you ever loving Ralph

Mary and Ralph married in 1922 and remained in the district and raised a family of five daughters. MLC is still a very prestigious school, now run by the Uniting Church.

Clara was most probably a dog. I don't think a cat would steal a piece of meat? At least none of our cats would have. Now pudding . . . One of our cats loved pudding and would not have thought twice about stealing licks from the pudding bowl.

Now I have never fully understood "finishing school". What was the goal? As for "Normal School" it is an odd term taken from the old French words "école normale" for teaching school. And even poor Clara deserves a memorial too.